The CW Dynasty reboot has finally landed, taking a new generation of viewers into the life of the wealthy and ambitious Carringtons.

The original '80s soap opera was notable for its bombast, so there was a lot to live up to – after all, nothing can top the Alexis/Krystle catfights.

In the new version, Blake Carrington's (Grant Show) daughter Fallon (Elizabeth Gillies) plots against his new wife Cristal (Nathalie Kelley), though things naturally get complicated along the way.

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However, going by the very mixed first reviews, it seems the wait may not have been worth it, with some critics arguing that it lacks the camp that made the original so great, while others suggest it didn't quite translate to the times.

Here's a round-up of what reviewers had to say after the first episode.

"It's fun, there's no question. But though it tries, occasionally painfully hard (the moment Fallon bites off the head of the wedding cake topper in front of Cristal is risible) it doesn't have the camp wit or excess of the original.

"And of course, times have changed. There is a (near) joke in it at one point about the 99% and the 1%, and – from Jeff Colby's sister – about how white Fallon's world is, in an attempt to acknowledge the fact that we are breathing rarefied air here, but it doesn't really work. We have seen too much of what goes on behind the curtain since original Dynasty was able to sweep us up and away. In the Trumpocene era, what was once an hour of escapism about madly rich and simply mad rich people now has the air of sanitised truth. Fracking hell."

"Despite all the catfights and fireworks, something about Dynasty falls flat. Maybe it's because the CW has come so far since its days of dealing in soaps that it almost seems like a step backwards for the network, which has only recently begun breaking into the awards circuit. Or maybe it's that, with the 10-year anniversary recently passed, Gossip Girl is too fresh in our memories. As soon as Gossip Girl premiered in 2007, it defined the CW's take on primetime soaps, becoming an instant phenomenon thanks to its singular vision, iconic fashion and relentless momentum – all things Dynasty's premiere sorely lacks."

"The CW's version of the 1980s touchstone Dynasty is not your mother's or father's soap. This was not just inevitable, but advisable: Multicultural, LGBTQ-friendly, and vocally uneasy about the same luxuries it serves up as eye candy, the show feels very of-the-moment."

"The new Dynasty comes from Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who worked together on The OC and Gossip Girl. Those shows enriched rich-do-play soap operatics with the flavour and style of their times, suburban nerd-rock ennui and paparazzi-glam high fashion. This new show feels dangerously bland by comparison, unwilling to embrace its campiest instincts. You want a poison-pen love song for the Mar-a-Lago set. Instead, the Carringtons come and go, talking about fracking and COOs. Though, minor spoiler: there is an actual explosion. That's the right instinct, Dynasty! Subtlety will get you nowhere."

"The original Dynasty used tawdry opulence to cut through a much-less-cluttered TV landscape back when it premiered, and there's little doubt that it's harder to cut through clutter today – especially on a broadcast budget and with broadcast decency standards when there's likely to be a similar cable or streaming show with more money to spend and more leeway to be risqué. But it's possible.

"The CW's new Dynasty has the familiar brand name and hails from the wholly capable Schwartz and Savage and Patrick, but it remains firmly lost amid the clutter. While the pilot has updated some key plot points from the original series, what it can't seem to effectively update is the risqué rush that helped the first Dynasty and shows of its ilk thrive."

"Given that the CW (like the WB before it) has often done a pretty good job with modern-day soaps, the lacklustre nature of the network's revival of Dynasty is a bit puzzling. It's not that the entire thing fails to work: Here and there, certain performances contain echoes of the flashy original. But other aspects of this Dynasty reboot are lacking, and it's not quite clear that the drama will be able to overcome some of the problems that hobble its pilot.

"All in all, this Dynasty generally lacks both verve and style. Another recent CW soap, Riverdale, lost its way for a bit early in its first season, but rallied to finish in a generally strong fashion. But this pallid Dynasty barely gets out of the gate before it begins to lose steam."